Jeff Roorda, the spokesman for the Fraternal Order of Police in St. Louis, has launched a Senate bid as a Republican.
Roorda is a former Democratic state representative and longtime police officer in Jefferson County. He recently detailed how the “defund the police” movement served as a catalyst to his switch to the Republican Party.
“I am proud of my record of standing up for the values of Jefferson County in the Missouri House and during my years serving law enforcement in our region. Every day, I turn on the news and see what Washington liberals like Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi are doing to our nation, and I see how important it is for us to fight back at the state level. I think we need more commonsense conservatives in the state Senate who will fight for our constitution, say no to Biden’s socialist agenda, stand up for law and order, and make sure working Missourians are not held back by big government.”
A Jefferson County native, Roorda has already put $100,000 of his own money into his campaign. He is running for the seat that is now held by Sen. Paul Wieland, who is term-limited.
In the legislature, Roorda worked to support public schools, veterans, and senior citizens specifically. Even while he was a Democrat, Roorda was socially conservative, supporting pro-gun, anti-abortion, and anti-tax policies.
He served as a state representative from 2005-2010 and again from 2013-2015.
Roorda is a member of the National Rifle Association (NRA).
Kaitlyn Schallhorn was the editor in chief of The Missouri Times from 2020-2022. She joined the newspaper in early 2019 after working as a reporter for Fox News in New York City.
Throughout her career, Kaitlyn has covered political campaigns across the U.S., including the 2016 presidential election, and humanitarian aid efforts in Africa and the Middle East.
She is a native of Missouri who studied journalism at Winthrop University in South Carolina. She is also an alumna of the National Journalism Center in Washington, D.C.
Contact Kaitlyn at kaitlyn@themissouritimes.com.
